All vendors selling overpriced tickets will face action, vows Surachate

Assistant National Police chief Pol Lt-General Surachate Hakparn said on Saturday that investigators need time to collect evidence and build a case against violators, who will be dealt with “fairly and transparently”.

He said action will be taken against all online platforms selling lottery tickets at prices higher than legal limits.

Violators will be fined as per their offence, he added.

“There will be no preferential treatment.”

A major online platform, whose office was recently raided by police on suspicion of selling overpriced lottery tickets, announced on Saturday morning that it will be selling lottery tickets at 95 baht each, instead of 80 baht due to “high cost”.

Surachate said on Saturday that police investigators appeared to be too slow in some cases because many of the suspect platforms involved more than 30,000 downline participants in their complex multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme.

“In one case, more than 1,700 witnesses were questioned. Some platforms have complex structures and police need to examine them carefully,” he said.

In March, police raided the offices of three major online lottery vendors as part of a crackdown on lottery-ticket overpricing.